Danny Rohl chats to Sky Sports about keeping Sheffield Wednesday up last season, their roller-coaster start and working as a pundit during the Euros. Watch Sheffield Wednesday vs Leeds United live on Sky Sports Football from 7pm on Friday night; Kick-off 8pm
Friday 23 August 2024 20:59, UK
Needless to say it has been a mixed start for Danny Rohl and Sheffield Wednesday this season.
They kicked off the Championship campaign with a 4-0 win over Plymouth Argyle, and followed it up by being trounced by the same scoreline at Sunderland.
Rohl, still just 35, is not one to overreact to either result.
"It was a great performance against Plymouth," he tells Sky Sports. "Then we won 2-1 in the cup and everybody was very positive.
"Then, going to Sunderland, the expectation is higher. You want to show up again, but it was a tough game and after 25 minutes it was nearly game over."
The perspective perhaps comes from what he achieved at the club last season.
The Owls had failed to win any of their first 11 league games when he took charge. It took him three attempts to get a first win, before he then steered them remarkably to safety.
"When I look back now at when I arrived and what the atmosphere was like around the stadium, the club and the city, it feels completely different now and that we've achieved really special things," he says.
"The comeback was nearly a mission impossible, but we did all the right things and in our run-in we were outstanding.
"Now we have to make the next step as a group. There will be ups and downs on this road, but it's important we consistently have more ups than downs."
Such was the turnaround that Rohl was able to enjoy his summer as a pundit for ITV on the European Championship, the former Germany assistant manager taking his place in the studio alongside the likes of Roy Keane and Gary Neville.
It was slightly unfamiliar territory for him, but an experience he immensely enjoyed and took a lot of lessons from. Rohl is a manager always learning in any environment.
"It was a different challenge and it was nice to have been a little part of the tournament," he says with a smile.
"It was interesting to see the other side of sports and to get more of an interview of that.
"I tried to show a bit of balance and what managers might be thinking, maybe show some details that you're not normally looking for when you're watching a game.
"It was also great to meet the people and the atmosphere was great in Berlin."
Atmosphere and energy are key words in Rohl's managerial glossary. He is already loved in his half of Sheffield, an icon for the fans even after less than a year in charge.
"Some fans are very positive, they come up and say thank you for what we did," he says.
"Other fans are a little, I would say, crazy! They stop driving and jump out of their car to take pictures. But it's a great positive energy.
"I know football is about results, and if you have the right results then it's easier to support the manager."
Rohl has plenty of support, and if Sheffield Wednesday can continue on the trajectory that began under him last season, it will only grow and grow.
